Samsung to Provide 30% of All Phones Shipped in 2013

Samsung wants to ship 500 million handsets in 2013, likely setting a new world record for the most mobile phones produced in a year. According to DigiTimes, the company is currently receiving 10 million panels per month from China-based BOE. These panels come from one of many suppliers that Samsung uses and will be employed by the tech giant's entry-level and mid-range devices. More than 1.5 billion phones were believed to have been shipped in 2012. Assuming that cellular device shipments continue to grow, Samsung could end up providing roughly 30 percent of the units. Sales and shipments are two very different things, however. While the South Korean company could flood the world with dozens of handsets, many of them may not be sold right away. Not all of these devices will be smartphones. While they are commonplace in the United States, smartphones have yet to fully replace traditional cellular devices in emerging markets. Even so, Samsung's shipment numbers are likely to dwarf the competition. Apple AAPL, Samsung's lead competitor, does not say how many iPhone units are shipped each year. The Cupertino, California-based company focuses squarely on sales figures. According to Apple's last four earnings releases (FY2012 Q2, Q3, Q4 and FY2013 Q1), Apple sold more than 130 million smartphones in 2012. For a company that only produces one type of smartphone, that number is extremely impressive. Even if Apple sold five different iPhones, it would still be quite an achievement. Apple is expected to release its next smartphone, the iPhone 5S, sometime this summer. The device could be unveiled on June 29, 2013 -- exactly six years after the original iPhone debuted. Samsung's next smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, was unveiled last month. It is 50 percent faster than the iPhone 5. Early benchmarks suggest that it is also faster than BlackBerry's BBRY Z10, the first handset to utilize the company's BB10 operating system. HTC, which is attempting to rebrand its business after years of slumping sales, is getting a lot of positive buzz for the HTC One. This device is expected to be a formidable competitor to the Galaxy S IV and the next iPhone. Both HTC and Amazon AMZN are rumored to be developing a phone for Facebook FB. The social networking giant has repeatedly denied that it will develop its own smartphone but has not specifically said whether or not it would allow a third-party to release a Facebook-branded device. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis@benzingapro.com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ